Back
in 2007, the Sacramento Bee reported that the California
DMV was attempting to recall the vanity license plate GO 2 11
that attorney Keith Wagner had on his car, after the agency received
a complaint that the message can be read as "Go to hell."
Here is the spirited response by
Wagner. Five years later, in October 2012, the Washington DMV
showed more sense when the agency rejected
a complaint about a plate on Tony Cava's 1989 BMW that reads
GOES211. According to the Seattle Times, the complainant
asked the DMV to recall the plate because it referred to the
fact the driver's penis "grows to 11 inches in length."
But Cava after explained it was a reference to his favorite movie,
the DMV ruled the complaint was "pardon the pun, a stretch."

A New Take On An Old Story

Cafe
76 has designed a
minimalist Spinal Tap poster available at eBay for $15, including
shipping. It's 11-by-17 inches on 100-pound matte paper. Impale
Design also ships internationally for an additional charge (e.g.,
$5 to the U.K.).

Other Classic Instant Reviews

In
a list of "10 succinct pop critiques" from his book
10 Ways to Recycle
a Corpse (and 100 Other Dreadfully Distasteful Lists),
Karl Shaw somehow overlooks "Shit sandwich," the infamous
review of Shark Sandwich cited by Marty DiBergi in TIST.
But he does share other gems, such as "Nah," a review
in New Musical Express of the 1996 album Yeah!
by Def Leppard; "Let's not," a review of Let's Groove
by Earth, Wind & Fire that appeared in Smash Hits
in 1981; "Don't think I wasn't tempted," a 1982 review
in Smash Hits of Run to the Hills by Iron Maiden;
"SHT," the conclusion in Creem of the supergroup
GTR's album of the same name, in 1986; and "Yes, mine,"
the summary in 1979 by Sounds magazine of Wasting Time
by Strangeways.

Blast from the Past

In
2007 Marty DiBergi attempted to reunite
Tap for Live Earth, a concert designed to raise money to
fight global warming. He was successful, if you want to call
it that.

Not
sure how you can include a rockumentary on a list of comedies
but Time Out London has given This is Spinal Tap
the number one spot of its list of 100 best. In
fact, says its reviewer, "this is one of the best films
of all time." But who calls them "The Tap"?

Now Available: Spinal Tap Rarities

Years
ago I put together a compilation of rarities on cassette tape.
I have ripped the master and posted it as side
one (42MB) and side
two (43MB) along with a PDF of the cassette
insert (disregard the phone numbers). I also have posted
an MP3 of Tap's April 5, 1984 performance
at the Music Machine in Los Angeles.

Twisted Sister Guitarist Covers
"Big Bottom"

Twisted
Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda and his Band of Steel have contributed
a cover of "Big Bottom" to Whole Lotta Love: All-Star
Salute To Fat Chicks. (You can hear a sample at MySpace.) "When I was first asked if I
wanted to cover 'Big Bottom,' I thought it was a joke,"
Ojeda said in a statement. "I mean, why would you ask a
guitarist to play on a song with no guitars? In the end, I did
find a way of adding my own personal touch to the song, while
also being respectful to the bass-heavy sound of the original."
Added bassist Chris McCarvill: "It wasn't hard playing all
three bass parts, but it was hard playing them all at the same
time."

Porn Company Plans XXX Version
of This is Spinal Tap

Hoping
to cash in on what Newsweek has called porn's new "gold
mine" of movie and television parodies, New Sensations announced
plans in 2010 to make an adult film called This is Spinal
Tap: A XXX Parody. It was to be directed by Lee Roy Myers,
who has previously done explicit parodies of The Big Lebowski
and Reno 911, but he has left New Sensations so the status
of the project is uncertain. But really, is nothing sacred? With
or without sex scenes, the concept of a parody of TIST seems
redundant.

Spinal Tap Returns. Seriously.

No,
they are not dead ... yet. The official website was relauched
and the band released a new album, Back
from the Dead (also available at iTunes and on
11-inch vinyl). Download a free track, Saucy
Jack or any of their singles at Amazon
MP3. The Amazon digital version of the new album includes
a bonus track, (Listen to the) Flower People (2009). The band
also discusses their music on its official YouTube channel.

This is Spinal Tap Released on
Blu-ray DVD

"This
is Spinal Tap" has been released on Blu-ray; you can order
a copy at Amazon. Note
that this DVD will only play on Blu-ray players; it won't work
on a standard DVD player. This is Spinal Tap
is also available for download at iTunes for $9.99 in standard
format or $19.99 in newly released HD.

Spinal Tap Art Show at the Phone
Booth Gallery

After
more than a year of planning, the Phone Booth Gallery in southern
California mounted an online art show devoted to Spinal Tap with
various artists interpreting their favorite aspects of one of
England's loudest bands. It closed on July 31 but you can buy a print of the exhibit poster for $15. At
right is "What Size Do You Wear, Sir?" by Arlene Reyes,
a 10" by 8" acrylic on wood. Other works included "Airport
Security" by Lil Tuffy, "Exact Inner Structure"
by Shannon Freshwater, "The Literal Truth Revealed"
by Mark Michelon, "Loved and Lost" by Chester Burnett,
"Smell the Glove" by Handiedan, "Nothing Was Left,
Well..." by Ryan Milner, "Stonehenge Was Nearly Trampled
by a Dwarf!" by Illworx, "Eleven" by Brian Banks
and "Jim" by Garry Booth. To browse, click here.

New Analysis of Spinal Tap Released

Ethan
De Seife, a visiting professor of film at Gettsyburg College
whose writings on Tap
first appeared on this site, has written what is without a doubt
the best critical analysis of the film for a volume of Wallflower
Press's Cultographies series. De Seife recounts the production,
promotion and initial reception to the film and the audience
and critical reaction before getting to the meat of the matter,
which is his analysis of the film and its secrets. This slim
volume is a must-have for any serious Taphead. You can buy it
at Amazon, Amazon Canada
or Amazon UK.

U2 Becomes Trapped Inside Giant
Pod

From
Q Magazine (February 2007): " 'Somebody had to out-Spinal
Tap Spinal Tap, and I think we did.' So said Edge about Popmart
mirrorball lemon: an impressive 40-foot fiberglass shell covered
with inch-thick reflective tiles from which the band were supposed
to emerge for every encore. Except in Oslo on 6 August 1997,
when in true Tap fashion the lemon failed to open, trapping them
inside. Today it lies dismantled in a Dutch warehouse since,
claims Edge, it failed to sell when auctioned on eBay."

The Keyboardist's Curse

From
The Week (16 June 2006): "When Vince Welnick was invited
in 1990 to become the Grateful Dead's keyboard player, the position
already had a reputation as the most dangerous job in rock n'
roll. Three of the band's previous keyboardists had died in tragic
circumstancesalcoholism, a car crash and a drug overdose.
After being told about the "curse," Welnick said, "I
am aware that I could die doing this job, but I was dying of
boredom before the job came up." Welnick apparently killed
himself, "the fourth and last in a grim series."

Fine Line Between Clever and ...
History

From
Nice
Guys Finish Seventh, page 45: "During a conversation
with one of his ambassadors following the Russian debacle of
1812, Napoleon kept repeating, 'From the sublime to the ridiculous
there is but one step.' After this ambassador reported their
conversation in a book, the mot was attributed to Bonaparte.
It still is. But this thought was not original to him. In Age
of Reason (1795), Thomas Paine wrote, 'One step above the
sublime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous
makes the sublime again.' " And, finally, as Albert Einstein
once said, "The difference between stupidity and genius
is that genius has its limits."

Nearly None More Black

In
2003 the National Physical Laboratory in the U.K. went beyond
black with a new NPL Super Black that reflected only about .16
of the light shined on it. However, in 2008 scientists at Rice
announced they had broken that record with a carpet of carbon
nanotubes that reflect only 0.045 percent of light, or three times darker than NPL Super Black. (By
comparison, black paint has a reflectance of 5 to 10 percent.)
However, neither of these findings eliminates the possibility
that a substance is out there that is none more black.

Woman Chokes on Someone Else's
Vomit

On
7 March 2002, the Saskatoon StarPhoenix in Saskatchewan,
Canada, citing witnesses inside the Pine Grove Correctional Centre,
reported that some female ex-heroin addicts so desperately crave
methadone that they routinely consume the fresh vomit of fellow
inmates currently on methadone treatment because enough is still
present in the regurgitation. The newspaper uncovered the practice
while investigating the death of an inmate. Said a source, "The
whole building knows (that the inmate choked on vomit). That's
how she died." from News of the Weird, compiled by Chuck Shepherd